Highlights:
- Single ancient tree (oldest in the garden)
- Maximum tree estimated age: 400 years (see below “How old are these trees?” for more info)
- Explosive rich + smooth Yiwu profile
- Long sweet aftertaste
- Powerful calming Qi
- 100% 1st spring pick
XiangChunLin, once known for its fruity sweet rich profile for its gushu trees, has just a few trees big and old enough to be made as single tree. This tea combines the same “wow” effect taste of the gushu trees with the refinenement of a single much older tree.
This is one the rare trees in the Yiwu Guoyoulin that’s not been overpicked and retains its full forest character, this is (likely) the older and bigger tree in XiangChunLin.
While we would recommend this single tree to almost everyone interested in really-as-good-as-it-gets Yiwu GuoYouLin, we should also mention that if you’re newer to benchmark standard or single trees you also likely want to get some 2026 WanGong Original.
How old are these trees?
All tree ages are approximations, and one should always doubt when an age is given as a single number. There are no certain scientific methods to identify the age of a tea tree. The only possible way to tell how old (and healthy) a certain tree is is by drinking its leaves and comparing it to its neighbours: the older the tree is, the thicker the soup and the more comfortable the ChaQi and your body in general.
The consensus among the most reliable tea experts about the age of the oldest standard puerh varietal trees in Yiwu is over 600 years (some people say less or more than this too). However people, even experts, have very different opinions about what age of tree is in a specific area.
So there always is uncertainty in this topic and we won’t pretend otherwise, we simply say: If you or your favourite expert think there are 600+ years old in Yiwu, this is one such tree. This is a genuine Big ancient tree and accordingly this is one the very best available trees available in the area. Best largely means oldest, but healthiest/biggest is also very important.
You can find more details about reference tree ages on the Benchmark ancient tree introduction under “Age of trees”.

Puerh.uk Benchmark Ancient Tree Series Introduction
- The best possible ancient tree tea that can be obtained in a given specific garden
- Our most significant contribution to making available a type of puerh that was not available before
- Super strict quality criteria (standard puerh varietal only, classic puerh areas only, 1st spring pick, extremely clean environment, ancient trees that have never been cut, healthiest and biggest trees only chosen for single trees production)
The best tea is not for sale, it’s available only through relationships. Tier 5 is about 0.01% of available Puerh, with ancient tree leaves only with all taste qualities present in overwhelming amount, tea that is basically only found in elite asian circles and via private connections.
Benchmark ancient tree Puerh is the top section of Tier 5, and particularly means: this is highest expression of ancient tree puerh from a specific garden, so it can be used as “benchmark” to tell whether other puerh is truly ancient tree or not.
Puerh of this quality has never been made before in history (only in the last 10 years), this is the most exciting frontier of tea at the moment as far as we’re concerned. Please see the full Benchmark ancient tree introduction page for more info.
30g ceramic jars (a bit more than 1oz) containing chunks of cake, 200g cakes.









ColinM –
I have just started my first potful of this tea.
Initial comments – the early brews appeared light gold in the gong dao bei, but a rich gold in the cup.
Even by brew 4, the liquor was hazy with some fine material floating in it
After an initial rinse, the next brew was a revelation – it completely got my attention. After each mouthful, the flavour and mouthfeel remained for several minutes.
I used a Duanni pot and would say that for me the flavour of the first 4 brews started to approach bitterness, but in a way that wasn’t hard to handle. I certainly found the Qi immersive and it shaped the rest of my afternoon. It helped hold my attention, despite the arrival of a thunderstorm and no matter what else I went on to do.
I’d love to share some photos – will have to find a way
ColinM –
Here are a few photos of this tea, as it moved from the natural dry leaves to the first few cupfuls
https://pbase.com/celidh/2026_xiangchunlin_single_tall_ancient_tree_